More cities may ban smoking at outdoor cafes

6  A growing campaign to ban smoking at outdoor eateries is pitting public health advocates concerned about secondhand smoke against business owners worried that new restrictions could drive away customers.

Nearly half of the county’s 18 cities have adopted some form of prohibition on smoking at outdoor dining areas, with Oceanside and Carlsbad recently passing measures of their own.

The Vista City Council took up the issue Tuesday night at the suggestion of Councilman Cody Campbell, but postponed a decision after council members said they wanted more time to study and fine tune the proposed ordinance.

Advocacy groups such as the Vista Community Clinic and the North Coastal Prevention Coalition have pressed North County cities to ban smoking at sidewalk cafes and restaurant patios, saying secondhand smoke is hazardous to patrons and restaurant employees.

“For me, it’s very emotional,” said Gena Knutson, manager of the Tobacco Control Program at the Vista Community Clinic.

Knutson said she is a cancer survivor and has had several family members die from cancer.

For years, Knutson and her group successfully lobbied cities to tighten restrictions on smoking in public areas, such as parks, beaches, bus stops and train platforms. Most recently, her group turned its attention to outdoor dining areas.

It’s what local residents want, Knutson said, pointing to the results of surveys conducted by her group in Vista, Oceanside, Carlsbad and San Marcos.

But not everyone agrees. Some business owners say the smoking bans infringe on their right to offer patios for smoking patrons.

“I just feel that people have to make their own choices,” said Leroy Tardy, owner of the Vista Village Pub, which has a patio where people can smoke.

Last week, the Oceanside City Council voted to ban smoking at restaurant patios on public sidewalks. Carlsbad approved a similar ban last year that prohibits smoking in unenclosed dining areas.

Chula Vista, Del Mar, El Cajon, Encinitas, National City and Solana Beach have also implemented smoking bans at outdoor eateries.

Some business groups are divided over smoking bans.

Jacqueline Reynoso, executive director of the National City Chamber of Commerce, said the city’s 2009 prohibition on smoking in open air dining areas has been well received by the business community in her city.

“National City has always prided itself as being family friendly and many restaurants already had the practice of not allowing smoking,” Reynoso said.

The chamber endorsed the ordinance and worked with the Institute for Public Strategies, a nonprofit public health advocacy group that pushed for the ban, Reynoso said.

But the board of the Vista Chamber of Commerce is opposed to such a ban in that city, fearing it may chase customers away, said Chief Executive Officer Bret Schanzenbach.

Advocates say the fear of losing customers is unfounded because many more customers prefer to eat at nonsmoking establishments.

The two sides are putting some politicians, such as Vista Mayor Judy Ritter, in a bind. Ritter said she sympathizes with nonsmokers but is opposed to too much government regulation. She said she did not know how she might vote on the ban.

“It’s tough for me because I don’t smoke,” Ritter said. “When I go to a hotel and I get a smoking room, I ask to change rooms but I believe in smaller government.”